Although ENR’s indexes measure the costs of non-residential buildings, the housing market has had a major impact on index movement. The ENR 20-city average yearly price for steel rose 37% by the end of 2021, while the overall Materials Cost Index experienced an increase of 31%. Both skilled and common labor saw a modest gain. The ENR Building Cost Index increased 13.1% for the year, while the Construction Cost Index rose 7.4% over the same period.
ENR began reporting changes in materials prices and wages systematically in 1909, but it did not establish the CCI until 1921. It was designed as a general-purpose tool to chart basic cost trends and today remains a weighted aggregate index of the prices of a constant quantity of structural steel, portland cement, lumber and common labor. This package of goods was valued at $100, using 1913 prices.